Kristen Stewart was cast in Welcome to the Rileys before the Twilight movies became a cultural phenomenon. (As was the case of The Runaways and also with Walter Salles’ upcoming On the Road.)

She was just 18 and still without finish her participation in the filming of Welcome To The Rileys, when she had to leave the set of filming to do the promo tour for the first installment of the Twilight series. After weeks she returned for wrap up the filming but her world had been changed completely… The “Twilight Tsunami” had placed her in the middle of a big frenzy to which she certainly was not prepared psychologically.

Suddenly she was over exposed 24 hours a day, having dozen of paparazzi urging her take an angry posture, people bullying her like Perez Hilton, thousands of teenagers and also grown ups fighting over her, people from the entertainment and gossip business standardizing her without know her well or to have watched her body of work and from the Business itself, analysing all, each breath she took, each action and each word. She became a phenomenon herself! A brutal example of “over exposure”! If you put the name “Kristen Stewart” in the Google, you will have 26.600.000 results! She lost the human right of growing up as a person and as an actress before became an selfconscious adult and consecrated actress at the public eyes.

People like Nathalie Portman, Annette Benning, Hilary Swank, Michelle Williams between others, in the last two THR roundtables with the actresses, said that they thank God everyday for have had time to grow up as a person and as an artist, mostly away from the public eyes! No one born perfect in any way!

You will see below that this “over exposure” certainly interfered in the analyse of some reviewers.

Rotten Tomatoes (RT) had 60 reviews, MetaCritic (MC) had 29 reviews, Movie Review Intelligence (MRI) had 29 reviews and the Movie Review Query Engine (MRQE) had 40 reviews but some reviews are represented in the two or three or four of them, so in the end, we have much less than 158 reviews but there are also a lot of reviews that neither of these sites listed. In the end, we found 118 reviews from professional film critics, included 38 so call Top Critics).

The first lesson that we learned about film critics reviews was: Doesn’t matter how well the film was reviewed or how well it did in the box office, the review for the actor’s performances is independent. So… You can’t judge an actor’s performance just looking the scores of the movie in sites like RT, MC, MRI or MRQE. You have to read all!

P 01 – Al Alexander – Milford Beacon - “…But then, with actors the caliber of Gandolfini, Leo and Stewart, how could he fail.” “…They (the actors) bail him out at every ridiculous turn with performances that are as rich as they are heartfelt. But their greatest gift is their ability to inject realism into a story that could only take place inside a writer’s mind.”

P 02 – Aldo Singer – Indie Media Magazine – “…To Stewart’s defense, she delivered a solid performance that all ‘Bella’ fans should take note of, she’s hardcore.” …The film could have used Stewart a lot earlier then when she entered. The more scenes Gandolfini and Stewart had together, the better this film became.”

P/N 04 – Andrew Schenker – Slant Magazine – (His review just talk about script and director’s work. He didn’t like at all the movie! Because of that, he don’t talk about the performances! So… I’ll put this review as “not given”.)

P 05 – Anthony Breznican – USA Today (TOP CRITIC) – “Kristen Stewart’s shocking depiction of a self-destructive 16-year-old stripper/prostitute in Welcome to the Rileys is bound to scandalize. Those who prefer her only as Twilight’s lovestruck Bella may be shocked, while others who know her more nuanced work in films such as Adventureland will see a fearless new side of the actress confirmed. . . . Stewart deserves credit for taking the risk of playing this part. It’s a shockingly sexual performance…For an actress like Stewart, it would be easy to play it safe. Knock out a romantic comedy or a Nicholas Sparks weepie while the vampire cash keeps rolling in from Twilight sequels. Instead, Stewart is challenging herself, and moviegoers, too.”

P 06 – Ashley Ratcliff – Movie Media Magazine – “Stewart gives a remarkable performance in this drastic departure from her “Twilight” series role, while Gandolfini and Leo bring depth to their characters.”

P 08 – Bags Hooper – Character Approved Blog – “Stewart is best known for her role as Bella Swan in the Twilight franchise. While this series is wildly popular, it doesn’t really showcase the range Stewart has an an actor. Her role as a runaway in Welcome to the Rileys tests her prowess, and it’s an overwhelming success. As Mallory, she expresses the pain and anguish of living a harsh life, while also giving voice to an orphan that subconsciously and desperately wants a family.” “Stewart and Gandolfini are Character Approved for their on-camera chemistry. This is easily the most powerful role Stewart has played on film and we’re looking out for more from this talented actor.”

P 09 – Ben Kendrick – Screen Rant – “‘Welcome to the Rileys’ is a competent indie drama that offers great performances…” “Surprisingly, Leo’s scenes with Stewart are especially intriguing.” “Any moviegoers who were expecting Twilight starlet Kristen Stewart to drag the entire project down with pouty melodrama, will only be half-right. There is plenty of hair flipping and lip biting, but the anxious and awkward character fits within Stewart’s repertoire – as well as the movie at hand. Sure, at times, Stewart seems over-eager, as if she knows that roles like Mallory are key to being taken seriously as an actress in her post-Twilight career. In general, she succeeds in holding the film together, though it’s hard to consider it a breakout role for her…”

P/N 10 – Beth McCabe – BigPictureBigSound.Com – “It’s Ms. Stewart that seems a little out of place, and probabaly out of her depth, with her seasoned costars. Her stacatto delivery is abrupt at times, and not always suited to the dialog, though she does bring an awkward vulnerability to her role that seems to (mostly) fit.”

P 11 – Betsy Sharkey – Los Angeles Times (TOP CRITIC) – “Stewart, who was cast in the film before the “Twilight” tsunami hit, continues to gravitate to characters that the world has roughed up, with Mallory a few shades darker than the actress’ well-crafted young Joan Jett in “The Runaways” earlier this year. She just gets better at bringing a naked vulnerability to her performances. Here it’s like watching a slide show of anger, pain, innocence, outrage and mischief play across her face.”

P 12 – Bill Goodykoontz – Arizona Republic (TOP CRITIC) – “Too often we’re taken out of the story and wind up watching the actors, not relating to them. Luckily for Scott, they’re so good that it makes Welcome to the Rileys a more-satisfying film than it probably should be.”

P 14 – Capone - Ain’t It Cool – “I have to admit, I didn’t think Stewart really had it in her to surprise me, but as the foul-mouthed Mallory, she reminds me that there was a time when she was a strong actor and not just an accidental cultural icon.”

N 15 – Cary Darling – Dallas Morning News (TOP CRITIC) – “Gandolfini and Leo play their parts with an exquisite sense of quiet pain. Never mind that the film should have been shorter or that Stewart, a long way from her days as the tortured Twilight teen, is a bit one-note. Welcome to the Rileys is a welcome surprise.”

P 16 – Chris Bumbray – JoBlo’s Movie Emporium – “…I like her, and I think that outside of TWILIGHT she’s a great actress,…” “… Leo has a few really nice scenes with Stewart, where they establish a type of mother and daughter bond that is nicely splayed by both of them.” “Of the three, Stewart probably has the most clichéd role, with her playing the young hooker with a heart of gold. Nevertheless, Stewart does a great job. Sundance has been very good to Stewart this year, with her showing up in two good films, and playing markedly different characters. She’s actually a very good young actress, and I hope that her success in TWILIGHT means she’ll continue to get quality films like this one made.”

P 17 – Christopher Lloyd – Sarasota Herald-Tribune – “I’m personally of the opinion that those “Twilight” movies have been a net burden to Stewart’s career. Watching her textured work here, in which she shows us Mallory’s carefully constructed walls of defensiveness, it’s hard to imagine this is the same actress moping around with vampires.”

P 18 – Clark Douglas – DVDVerdict.Com – “I would mention what a pleasant surprise it is to see how good Kristen Stewart is in a role that actually challenges her, but then I’ve already seen her in The Runaways. Instead, I’ll simply say that this is a film which further confirms how good she can be when the role requires her to be. She’s impressively raw in her earlier scenes as the unapologetically slutty, vulgar runaway stripper, but what really impress are her moments of conflicted emotion later in the film. Stewart excels during those moments in which Mallory struggles to choose between her buried desire for safety and her fiercely independent streak. She plays very well off of her fellow cast members, particularly Gandolfini.”

N 19 – Claudia Puig – USA Today (TOP CRITIC) – “Stewart’s idea of inhabiting this part seems to be to scowl a lot and let her hair go unwashed. The Twilight star doesn’t have the depth or emotional agility to go toe-to-toe with Gandolfini and Leo. She emerges as a wretched caricature”

P 20 – Cole Smithey – ColeSmithey.com – “as an actor’s showcase for Melissa Leo, James Gandolfini, and the ever watchable Kristen Stewart than it does as a complete work of cinematic dramaturgy.” “But it’s Kristen Stewart’s rebellious sensuality that fills the recesses of the melancholy narrative.”

P/N 21 – Connie Ogle – Miami Herald – (She don’t talk much about the actor, only talk about the characters because she thought the movie and the characters “too false to offer much hope…”. She laments it because the good actors.)

N 22 – Dan Kois – Village Voice (TOP CRITIC) – “But Jake Scott’s Welcome to the Rileys is so underwritten that, despite a more energetic performance, Stewart makes much less of an impression.” “… Try as Stewart might, she can’t turn this Manic Trixie Nightmare Girl into a real person.”